Biblical Astronomy February 2011

Biblical Astronomy February 2011 Editor Robert Scott Wadsworth <> P.O. Box 2272, Oregon City, OR 97045 Phone (503) 655-7430 <> e-mail starguy1@comcast.net <> Website www.biblicalastronomy.com NEW MOON REPORT Nehemia Gordon from Jerusalem, Israel compiled the following New Moon Report for the month of February 2011 and the beginnings of the Twelfth Biblical Month in the Biblical Year 5971 (from the creation of Adam). On Friday February 4, 2011 we didn't see the moon from Jerusalem because of rain and clouds. However it was 30 days since the last sighting and hence new moon day by default (a lunar month can't be more than 30 days long). The next New Moon is expected to be visible from Jerusalem near sunset on March 6, 2011 when the moon will be 2.8% illuminated and 17.53 0 above the horizon at 5 minutes past sunset. This will most likely be the beginning of the 13 th Biblical Month, unless by some miracle the barley becomes Aviv by March 6. The first day of the month of the Aviv (the first month of the new Biblical year) will most likely occur near sunset on April 4 th this year. The first month of the Civil and also the Biblical Prophetic Calendar (the 6,000 year countdown which started when Adam fell from grace seven years after he was created, will most likely occur near sunset on September 29, 2011. Most ancient civilizations started their year in the autumn, as did the early Patriarchs. According to Scripture, the years of Jubilees begin in the autumn (Day of Atonement) of one year and end in the autumn of the next year every 50 years. It was not until the time of the Exodus that Yahweh made the month of the Aviv the first month on the Hebrew calendar (Ex. 12:1,2). There has been much debate over the centuries over what time of the year Adam was created. I believe that he was created in the autumn. It was in the autumn that the beginning of each year began in most ancient civilizations as well as with the early Patriarchs. It is also in Jewish tradition and according to ancient historians and Jewish Sages that Adam was created in the autumn. I believe that Adam also sinned and fell from grace in the autumn, seven years after he was created. It is from this time that started the prophecy of Genesis 3:15, when Adam and the rest of mankind needed a savior to redeem them back to Yahweh. Yahweh is righteous and does things according to His justice and law. It is suggested in various places in Scripture that in this salvation plan, after Messiah would pay the price for our redemption, the earth and creation would be redeemed 6,000 years after the fall of Adam, when he pretty much sold himself and the rest of creation to the Devil. Actually we are redeemed the moment we accept Yahshuah (Jesus) as our Messiah and are born of His spirit. But the world still belongs to the god of this world, the Devil, until the 6,000 years are up and the title deed to the earth is transferred back to the Seed of Abraham. The price was paid, the required time will have passed, and there is nothing the Devil can do to stop it. It is similar to when someone sold themselves into slavery during early Biblical times. Deut. 15:12 If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. Though in this case it is after six millennia (a day is as 1,000 years) that mankind is set free. Since Adam, by his free will, sold himself and the rest of mankind into slavery, Yahweh will righteously and by His perfect law totally redeem creation. The Devil will have no claim on mankind or the earth when his lease is up. Now it was when Adam fell that he sold creation out to the Devil. That is when the six years (millennium) of servitude began. The seventh millennium from the fall of Adam will begin in the autumn of 2047. I believe that Adam was created in the autumn of 3961 B.C. We are now in the year 5971 since his creation. The year 6001 from his creation will begin on September 8, 2040, when the Last Shabuah (7 years) will begin, and will end in the autumn of 2047, which I believe will be a Jubilee year. (Check out your Scriptures to see what happens in a Jubilee year. This upcoming Jubilee year will be the Grand Jubilee year of all time thus far). There is very little in astronomical signs in February. The highlight for the month is the bright shinning planet Nogah (Venus) next to a bright crescent moon in the early morning sky about an hour before

sunrise on February 28. The simulation below from Astronomy.com shows the event. The moon and Venus will be in the constellation Sagittarius during this event. The theme of the Sign Sagittarius is The Redeemer s triumph. See the July 2006 issue of Biblical Astronomy where Sagittarius was the feature constellation for more info on this Sign. There is not much in signs for February, March and most of April. There is one planetary conjunction in March and one in April. I will be covering those in the respective newsletters. I was really down for the count but managed to crawl back up and I am doing much better now. In case I do not have the March newsletter finished by next week, Jupiter and Mercury will come into conjunction and seen in the early evening sky on March 16, in the constellation Pisces. This event may be difficult to see with the unaided eye since the planets will be fairly close to the sun at the time of conjunction. There will be more on this and a chart in the March newsletter. Things will start to heat up (astronomically speaking in late April. Four planets will be getting ready for the Grand Ball in May when there will be five planetary conjunctions and a number of planetary massings. Until then, I will be writing of historical events that I have had questions on of late, particularly what events occurred in 1948 when Israel gained its independence and became a nation again on the world stage, and the events that occurred in World War II. I will write on the events of 1947/1948 in this issue, and the latter in the March 2011 issue. ISRAEL GAINS IT INDEPENDENCE Israel was recognized as a nation by the United Nations and gained its independence on May 14, 1948. Of course, Yahweh recognized Israel as a nation long before the United Nations came into existence. The United Nations began the process of recognizing Israel as a nation in the autumn of 1947. I believe that the autumn of 1947 through the autumn of 1948 was a Jubilee year, and the Biblical year 5908 from the creation of Adam, and the year 5901 from the fall of Adam. It happens that there were no major celestial signs during that year, bar a few conjunctions and a slightly partial lunar eclipse that occurred on Aviv 14 or the Passover in 1948 (according to the Jewish Talmudic calendar. If the barley were aviv at its normal season, then Passover that year would have been on March 26. This was a prelude to a series of eclipses that produced four total eclipses in 1949 and 1950, all on the Passover or Tabernacles of each year. The eclipse on April 23, 1948 was mostly a penumbral eclipse and hardly noticeable, even to an expert observer. I would not count that particular eclipse as a great sign, but the four that followed in the next two years were great signs and all but the eclipse on the Passover of 1950 were visible from Jerusalem. Chart 547 shows the position of the moon in the constellation Bethulah (Virgo) at the time of the eclipse as seen from Jerusalem. Again, this would not easily be seen from Jerusalem and only a partial penumbral shadow would be seen shortly after the moon rose above the horizon. Most of the eclipse occurred when the moon was yet below the horizon as seen from Jerusalem. The three most notable conjunctions were a Jupiter and Venus conjunction in Virgo on November 9, 1947; a Mars and Saturn conjunction in Leo on November 12 1947; and a Venus and Saturn conjunction in Leo on October 8, 1948. Chart 548 shows the brightest conjunction of the above three, which was the Jupiter and Venus conjunction in Virgo on November 9, 1947. These are not great signs, but I am listing them here for the record for any future inquiries. There were no conjunctions or any other celestial event of significance on May 14, 1948. However, if the barley was aviv for the new moon of March 12, 1948 (first crescent), then Passover would have been shortly after sunset on March 26 and Shavuot would have been on First Day (Sunday) May 16th according to the Biblical calendar. But interestingly, Shavuot fell on Friday May 14 th according to the Hebrew calendar (adjusting for Aviv starting in March). According to the Hebrew Mode on my Calmaster 2000 program, Shavuot was on May 14 th, but in the Jewish Talmudic mode, was on June 13 th, since it started Aviv in April. At any rate, the independence of Israel occurred near Shavuot (50 th day in the counting of the Omar) in a Jubilee Year (50 th year), if the barley was Aviv by March 12 that year, which is highly likely. This is something to ponder on. Yahweh bless you richly and watch over you.

Chart 547 The Moon in Bethulah at the time of the penumbral eclipse on April 23, 1948 Chart 548 Jupiter and Venus in conjunction on November 9, 1947

CANIS MAJOR and CANIS MINOR The coming glorious Prince (Sirius in Canis Major) The exalted Redeemer (Procyon in Canis Minor) Canis Major and Canis Minor are decan constellations to the Sign Gemini. Ancient Names for Canis Major Apes (Dendurah) the head. Zeeb (Arab.) coming quickly.

Stars in Canis Major and the meanings of their names Sirius (Heb) The Prince. Mirzam (Arab.) the prince or ruler. Wesen (Arab.) the bright, shining. Adhara (Arab.) the glorious. Other stars, not identified, bear their witness to the same fact. Their names are--aschere (Hebrew), who shall come; Al Shira Al Jemeniya (Arabic), the Prince or chief of the right hand! Seir (Egyptian), the Prince; Abur (Hebrew), the mighty; Al Habor (Arabic), the mighty; Muliphen (Arabic), the leader, the chief. The following is from E.W. Bullinger s The Witness of the Stars (1893) concerning Canis Major and its star Sirius, which is the brightest star in the heavens (excluding the bright planets). In the Denderah Zodiac he is called Apes, which means the head. He is pictured as a hawk (Naz, caused to come forth, coming swiftly down). The hawk is the natural enemy of the serpent, and there it has on its head a pestle and mortar, indicating the fact that he shall crush the head of the enemy. In the Persian planisphere it is pictured as a wolf, and is called Zeeb, which in Hebrew has the same meaning. Plutarch translates it Leader. In Arabic it means coming quickly. Its ancient name and meaning must be obtained from the names of its stars which have come down to us. There are 64 altogether. Two are of the 1st magnitude, two of the 2nd, four of the 3rd, four of the 4th, etc. Of these Alpha (in the head) is the brightest in the whole heavens! It is called Sirius, the Prince as in Isaiah 9:6. Sirius (our English "Sir" is derived from this word) was, by the ancients, always associated with great heat. And the hottest part of the year we still call "the dog days," though, through the variation as observed in different latitudes, and the precession of the equinoxes, its rising has long ceased to have any relation to those days. It is not, however, of its heat that its name speaks, but of the fact that it is the brightest of all the stars, as He of whom it witnesses is the "Prince of princes," "the Prince of the Kings of the earth." Though this "Dog-Star" came to have an ill-omened association, it was not so in more ancient times. In the ancient Akkadian it is called Kasista, which means the Leader and Prince of the heavenly host. While (as Mr. Robert Brown, Jr, points out) "the Sacred Books of Persia contain many praises for the star Tistrya or Tistar (Sirius), 'the chieftain of the East.'" (Euphratean Stellar Researches) Here there is no conflicting voice; no discord in the harmonious testimony to Him whose name is called "Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God...the Prince of Peace" (Isa 9:6). The names of the stars have no meaning whatever as applied to an Egyptian Hawk, or a Greek Dog. But they are full of significance when we apply them to Him of whom Jehovah says in Isaiah 55:4: "Behold, I have given Him for a witness to the people, A LEADER and commander to the people." This is "the Prince of princes" (Dan 8:23,25) against whom, "when transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance...shall stand up," "but he shall be broken without hand," for he shall be destroyed "with the brightness of His coming" (2 Thess 2:8). This is He who shall come forth "King of kings and Lord of Lords" (Rev 19:16). The following is from Joseph Seiss s The Gospel in the Stars (1882) concerning the star Sirius. This star is called Sirius, from Sir or Seir, which means Prince, guardian, the Victorious. Taken in connection with the name of the figure in the Egyptian sphere, as often given, we have Naz-Seir or Nazir; and we know who it was that was to be called Naz-seir-ene. Naz-Seir means the Sent Prince. So the Rod promised to come forth from the stem or stump of Jesse is called Netzer in the Hebrew Bible, there translated the Branch, the princely Scion, who should smite the earth with a rod of His mouth, and slay the wicked with the breath of His lips. Not, then, only because Christ spent His earlier years at an obscure little village by the name of

Nazareth, but above all, because He was the sent Prince, the Messiah, the Branch, at once the Netzer of Isaiah and the Naz-Seir of these equally prophetic constellations. From the earliest ages of Christianity till now interpreters and defenders of the Scriptures have been at a loss to explain by what prophet or in what sacred prophecy it was said, as claimed by the Apostle, that Christ should be called a Nazarene; but here from a most unexpected quarter, we find the nearest and most literal foreshowing of that very name, given in place as a designation of the Seed of the woman, and describing Him as the Sent Prince, the lordly Eagle, the appointed tearer in pieces and extirpator of the whole serpent brood. And in this Naz-Seir or Naz-Sirius, we are to see Him of whom Matthew said, He came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called NAZ-SEIR-ENE. (Matt. 2:23). Ancient Names for Canis Minor Sebak (Dendurah) conquering, victorious. Stars in Canis Minor and the meanings of their names Procyon (Heb.) Redeemer. Al Gomeisa (Arab.) the burthened, loaded, bearing for others. The brightest star, Alpha (in the body), is named Procyon, which means REDEEMER, and it tells us that this glorious Prince is none other than the one who was slain. Just as this chapter begins with two persons in one in the Sign (GEMINI), one victorious, the other wounded; so it ends with a representation of two princes, one of whom is seen triumphant and the other as the Redeemer. This is confirmed by the next star, Beta (in the neck), which is named Al Gomeisa (Arabic), the burthened, loaded, bearing for others. The names of the other stars still further confirm the great truth; viz., Al Shira or Al Shemeliya (Arabic), the prince or chief of the left hand, answering to the star in Sirius. One right, the other left, as the two united youths are placed. Al Mirzam, the prince or ruler; and Al Gomeyra, who completes or perfects. WOS The pictures below of Canis Major and Canis Minor are from Kenneth C. Fleming s book God s Voice in the Stars. They are close to what the original pictures must have been and much closer to the original intent than the corruption of these constellations using two dogs. The figure for Canis Minor represents Messiah as Redeemer who redeemed us by His labors. The figure for Canis Major represents Messiah as the enthroned King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This goes along with and backs up the major constellation in the Sign Gemini, where the two representations mean the same. The person on the left represents Messiah as the one who labored, and the figure on the right represents Messiah as the King in His coming glory.